Heart to Heart with Cheri
Enough Light for the Next Step
Happy 2008, friends and readers! I hope your holiday
gave you some time to take a few deep breaths (after
you shopped, wrapped the packages and went to the
grocery store, etc), to contemplate the wonder of
Christ’s coming whether in a midnight candlelight
service or alone time you had to read Luke 2. And I
hope you enjoyed moments with those you love the
most.
We were extra thankful to have all three of our
married children and their spouses plus Mimi, Lynn,
and Dru (great grandma and great aunts) for an early
Christmas on the 22nd. And for one brief week, all
six of our sweet and lively grandchildren from
ages one to almost ten were in the same city. We had
lots of fun: a Grandkids Gingerbread-decorating
party at my house where they also made edible
reindeer snacks (gobbled up in no time), a happy
birthday party I gave for grandson Luke Plum who
turned five, and some warm family meals and
conversation.
We also found ourselves in a new and uncertain
season. Weeks ago my daughter sent me this quote
from Henri Nouwen, which I tucked away but had no
idea how it would apply to our situation today:
“Often we want to be able to see into the future. We
say, ‘How will next year be for me? Where will I be
five or ten years from now?’ There are no answers to
these questions. Mostly we have just enough light to
see the next step: what we have to do in the coming
hour or the following day. The art of living is to
enjoy what we can see and not complain about what
remains in the dark. When we are able to take the
next step with the trust that we will have enough
light for the step that follows, we can walk through
life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Let’s rejoice in the little light we carry and not
ask for the great beam that would take all shadows
away.”
I’m endeavoring to apply this wisdom because last
weekend my husband and I moved back home to Oklahoma
full-time as his consulting job in Dallas ended.
We’d been living part-time in Dallas for almost
three years and going back and forth on I-35 like
nomads. We are still in the midst of unpacking and
regrouping but glad to be home. Although I will miss
being close to my sisters, family, and dear friends
in the Dallas area, I won’t miss living out of a
suitcase. Yet it’s also an uncertain time since
Holmes is looking for a job in the building industry
here in the midst of quite a slow-down and I’m also
looking for extra work to do.
When a curve ball hits our life, it calms me to
recall a truth Corrie ten Boom passed along, that
there is no panic in heaven, no matter what is
happening and God doesn’t have problems, only plans.
Isn’t it good that He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11
that His plans for us are for a future filled with
hope if we will only keep seeking Him with all our
hearts?
It helps me to remember that although we don’t see
what’s around the bend or know how things will turn
out yet, we can count on the fact that there will be
enough light for the next step. So every morning I
ask the Spirit to give us “marching orders” for what
we’re to do today, show me the step (or calls or
action to take) as well as eyes to see and ears to
hear His voice and the energy and courage to carry
it out.
It also helps me to remember there is so much to be
thankful for in the midst of uncertainty, trials, or
what seems like a dark tunnel—starting with God’s
faithfulness, mercy, and forever love that are
always there for us. Regardless of how much our
situation has changed, He is the same gracious God
today, tomorrow and forever. And although I woke up
this morning in a bit of a funk and tired from
unpacking boxes, as I write these words they
encourage me to keep trusting the Lord’s heart when
I can’t see His hand and to keep hoping, seeking,
and praying until light dawns.
I don’t know what you’re facing in the beginning of
this new year—a leap year at that. Maybe not
uncertainties in employment but health issues, a
relationship that’s up in the air, or a problem that
seems insurmountable. Perhaps another person’s poor
choices have caused you turmoil. Whatever it is that
stretches or distresses you, I pray for God to
always show you the next step you need to take and
what is your part (so you don’t try to do God’s part
which is exhausting, or others’ parts because that
doesn’t really help them). I pray for you to have
power in your inner spirit to know and experience
how incredibly high and deep and wide is the love of
Christ for you personally (Ephesians 3:16-18).
And in everything you undertake this year, I pray
for God’s Word to guide you and light your path day
by day. Psalm 119:105 promises that His Word will
supply the light we need and illuminate our path. We
can count on it because those promises are backed by
all the honor of His name. Like this verse, the ones
that follow in the quotable quotes section are worth
pondering, for they will encourage you. May the joy
of the Lord be your strength on the journey, all
throughout 2008. May He give you the desires of your
heart and make all your plans succeed. (Nehemiah
8:10, Psalm 20:4)
Blessings and love from my heart to yours!
Cheri
Quotable
Quotes
& Scriptures to Ponder
The Lord is
my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
…Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
(Psalm 27:1-2, 14)
The Lord is
good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him. (Nahum 1:7)
Fear not,
for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your
God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with the right hand of My
righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10)
I know the
plans I have for you,
Plans of peace and not of evil,
Plans of prosperity and not of calamity,
To give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11,
NIV)
I said to
the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the
Unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put
your hand
into the hand of God. That shall be to you better
than light
and safer than a known way.”—Minnie Louise Haskins
Thank God
you don’t have to be flawless to be blessed! You
need to have a big heart that desires and wants the
will of God more than anything else in the world.
You need also to have an eye single to his glory.
–A. W. Tozer
Trust the
past to the mercy of God,
The present to His love,
And the future to His providence. –St. Augustine
Book Review
Meet
Me At the Well: Take a Month & Water Your Soul
By Virelle Kidder (Moody Press, 2008)
Retail Price: $13.99
Sale Price: $11.19
Have you ever been burned out, tired and drained,
not only physically but emotionally or spiritually
as well? Do you find yourself at the beginning of
this year still recovering from the crises of last
year? Then Virelle Kidder’s new book is for you and
lots of women I know who run on empty. We don’t wake
up one day wanting to be burned out and overwhelmed.
But because of caring for loads of people (perhaps
kids and elderly or ill parents), juggling a job or
ministry and community service, household
responsibilities and just life, we may find
ourselves on the edge and ready to fall off despite
our best intentions—and very, very thirsty for
living water but not knowing how to get it.
One thing I like about Meet Me At the Well is how
honest and transparent the author is about her
anger, her frustrations, her weaknesses. Kidder
isn’t sugar-coating struggles she’s had. “No masks,
no pretending we’re in better shape than we are.”
She invites us, “Just tell Him (Jesus) the truth:
We’re bone dry.”
She not only shares her own story in the thirty-one
short devotional chapters, she encourages us not to
“go back to your old routines, your own dead
experience.” Instead, Kidder’s writings encourage us
to come to Christ and find real life—whether you’ve
never known Him before or have been a believer for
years. We all need our hearts renewed and our souls
refreshed at one time or another. I’m using this
book as my devotional in January and recommend it to
you. Each chapter includes “Living Water,” (Biblical
passages to ponder) and “Today’s Replenishment” with
questions and exercises.
Recommended Books
The One Year
Book of Praying Through the Bible
A doable, inspiring daily devotional for all
ages, women and men. It enables readers to
experience the power of God's Word and prayer each
day and to grow in their spiritual life and be
encouraged in their journey. This book has
gone into its 5th printing and has over 85,000
copies in print and we constantly hear how it's
blessing people's lives.
Purchase at
PC Publications for $12.99, which includes
shipping or at your local bookstore.
Waiting
on God by Andrew Murray
Within us there is a deep yearning for what God can
and will do in our lives. In WAITING ON GOD Andrew
Murray helps us discover the power unleashed to
believers who wait on the Lord. This is an
encouragement for more than quiet anticipation, but
is a call to a dynamic attitude and an active faith
in the ways of God. These thirty-one devotional
readings guide us to a deeper sense of God's
presence and dependence on him. You can purchase for
$6.39 by
clicking here or at your local bookstore.
Connecting with Cheri
Below is Cheri's speaking schedule. If you
live nearby and would like further information about
the events please
contact us.
2008
January 31-Feb.1
ACSI Educator Convention
Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center
Galveston, Texas
Feb. 7-10
Mission Trip to Free Church of the Annunciation, New
Orleans, LA With a team of women from Christ
Church, Plano, TX, Cheri will speak at a spiritual
retreat for the women of the Lower 9th Ward. Purpose
of retreat is to come alongside these precious
women, encourage them as they rebuild their lives in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The team will
also hand out supplies at relief center, worship
with congregation and be a listening ear.
April 4-6
Christ Chapel Bible Church Women’s Retreat
Marriott in Las Colinas, Texas
April 11
Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, Texas
Mothers of Preschoolers
